Thinking about putting in Solar panels.......Information and Advice needed please!

[DaWolp]

I did solar a number of years ago on my house in N Florida - Daytona area. And very first thing I did was swap out all the old light bulbs for LEDs, then re-insulated the house and put UV shield on the windows. Helped a lot. Its basically a 5kw system and may I pay a few bucks for electric each month.

Do it... solars a great investment.
- D

[bradykp]

I'm making the plunge on solar, and would be happy to talk about it if you'd like. I ended up choosing SunPower, which is basically the mercedes benz of solar panels right now. Most efficient panel, best warranty, and also, one of the priciest. The other brand the isntaller I chose quoted me on was LG. Other installers quoted me on numerous other brands, but mostly for the reasons of the warranty as well as the monitoring tools that sunpower chose to "brand" (they don't make them, but they brand them and stand behind them) is what sold me on SunPower. Plus, they're made in the USA.


That said, i'm going to be about $3.90/watt before federal tax incentive.

6,213 w system - $24,300
after tax - $17,010

I'll generate roughly 7 SRECs per year (NJ's incentive program). Current value is $225, but I'm assuming an average value of $150 - $1,050/yr.

I'll save roughly $1,300/yr in electricity bills.

So, $2,350 saved. $17,010 outlay. Conservatively, an 8.2 yr payback period. But, given SRECs are worth $225 right now, i'll save closer to $2,875/yr for the first 1-3 years, cutting the payback to closer to 6 years.

In NJ, they size your system based on your previous 12 months of usage - so you actually are hurting yourself if you reduce your energy consumption before getting your system sized. I've done some insulation work and switched about 30% of bulbs to LEDs. I can cut further, but if I add anything (EV, central air) I may increase my consumption. For now, my system is sized to meet 100% of my needs, and likely will overproduce.

Let me know if you have any questions. I must reiterate - there are plenty of good brands out there, and you don't need to pick SunPower. I am paying a slight premium for the brand for the reasons i stated.

[miss_clair_elise]

in general, federal and state incentives are being reduced significantly, and many power companies no longer pay out for those who produce more energy than they consume. if you're looking to that as a way to help fund the installation, i would do some research into your state and power company specific policies and rates.

[Az_Mitch]

The federal solar tax credit expires 31 December 2016. It is not being reduced significantly. Every state is different so you are absolutely correct about checking the status of your state tax credit. I am not sure where you get the information about "many" power companies no longer paying out for those who produce more energy than they consume. I live in Arizona and I bank Kwhs from 1 Jan to use throughout the year. I don't want them paying me every month when I produce more than I use. I want it going to my bank in the first part of the year so I can pull from my bank during the summer when I need it. Every company is different. Personally, solar has worked well for me. My summer power bills have been around $30 and that is with highs in the 110s.

[randomparent]

Originally Posted by whirnot

At first look I would recommend you spend your effort reducing your usage before going with panels. More bang for the buck. You are at least 30% over the national average, and with some effort could cut your use by more than 50%.

When we installed grid-connected solar, our energy provider allowed for 120% of total usage over the previous twelve months. In hindsight, we probably should not have been so thrifty with the electric. Install solar, and then replace your appliances with energy star units, change out your light bulbs, etc.

[ericsvibe]

I want to second the opinion of getting your home in order first. The savings of having a well insulated home really add up. We recently moved into an air sealed, triple pane window, 2x6 stud constructed home. Our electrical usage dropped 50% from the previous home we lived in. There are tons of great articles on the internet explaining how to maximize the efficiency of your home to reduce costs.

There are contractors who specialize in this type of work. Just think of it this way, if you save 100.00 a month, that's 1,200.00 per year. Over 30 years that is 36,000 in savings. However, we all know that the cost of electricity, and natural gas is going to increase. So the true savings will be much more than that.


Also remember that insulating your home never "wears out", doesn't add to maintenance costs, and increases the resale value.

[GregW]

Keep thinking about installing solar. That is a lot cheaper then actually doing it.

[hotzcatz]

We've been using solar panels for a couple of decades and I lived on solar for years before that.

The very first system I had back in the early '80's was a 12 VDC system where everything ran off of a 12V deep cycle battery and I had to have special lights, appliances, etc. It required bigger wiring, too, since it was lower voltage. It wasn't very big or extensive, no charge controllers or inverters, but it did provide lighting and minor electrical use when there were no other options.

Then I moved ashore and there was a house. We went to a stand alone solar system with a much bigger battery bank and a backup gasoline generator and that system had an inverter that changed the direct current coming from the battery bank into AC currant and ran a 'regular' household. Although, we were very frugal on electrical usage. Considering how often we had to run the generator and the cost of gas, as well as the propane to run the refrigerator, it was less expensive than grid power, but there were still expenses. We had the house off grid because electricity wasn't available at the beginning. That house is now connected to the grid, though. We didn't want to rent out a house with a battery bank and generator since we didn't trust any renters with that complicated of equipment.

From that one, we went to a grid tied system with micro-inverters on each solar panel. That was the same as a 'regular' house except our electric bill was $20 per month instead of $250. $24K and payback on that system is 8 years - and that doesn't take into account any rebates or incentives or tax breaks. When those are added in, it's much less. That one is a rental house now and it's rented for an additional $200 per month since we've rented the house with electricity included.

We're in the final stages of getting another solar system put on this current house. It's a grid tied system with one big inverter instead of micro-inverters on the panels. We just got in under the wire in our area, the electric company says our area is now 'fully subscribed' and no more new net metering customers in our area. This new solar system is larger than the last one and $4K less expensive since the cost of solar panels has gone down so it will be paid for in a little over six and a half years. When we add in the tax breaks and incentives and such, then it will be an even quicker payback time.

If you can get a solar system installed with a less than ten year payback, it would seem foolish not to get it. Even if the cost of solar drops by half in five years, you'd still break even wouldn't you?

Well, run the numbers for your area and see if it works out. Our electric rates are really high, though, at around forty four cents a kilowatt hour, so you may need a bigger system to cover your usual electrical use.

Solar panels don't have any moving parts and I still have the solar panel that I had in 1980 and it still works so I don't anticipate the new panels to wear out any time soon.